Booster 4 Testing Begins | Starship Update (Narrated)

in this starship update booster 4 performs a cryogenic proof test ship 20 aborts another static fire booster 6 becomes a test tank and work on starship at cape canaveral resumes after two years hey everyone this is ian atkinson with nasa spaceflight here to give you an update on spacex's starship facilities as of mid-december 2021 all of the following photos and videos were captured by nasa's space flight team members mary and nick and sweeney as well as our team of robotic cameras towards the end of november spacex was preparing ship 20 for another static fire test cruz had finished up repairs on the vehicle's heat shield likely signifying that this engine firing would be to test out those repairs on december 1st ship 20 was loaded with a small amount of methane and liquid oxygen for the static fire unfortunately the test was aborted shortly before engine ignition the vehicle was then depressurized and drained of its propellants as of recording no further attempts have been made at this test however that was not the end of testing that day just a few hundred feet away b 2.1 was loaded with liquid nitrogen for its first proofing test this appeared to be a success and the nitrogen was drained shortly after a similar proofing test occurred the following day b 2.1 is a test article built from a mix of ship and booster parts its exact purpose is still a mystery the test performed on december 1st was a significant milestone in itself b 2.1 was hooked up to the tank farm at the orbital launch site which supplied the liquid nitrogen this was the first time that the orbital tank farm was used for loading cryogenic liquid this test showed that the tank farm is almost complete and that booster testing on the orbital launch mount could begin very soon [Music] following this testing b 2.1 rolled back to the production site on december 6th it currently resides by sn15 and ship 16. it's unclear what the tank's future holds a lift onto the orbital launch mount booster 4 performed its first cryogenic proof test on december 17th during this liquid nitrogen was loaded into both tanks of the vehicle to ensure their integrity this was the first such test of this booster and the first test of any kind on the orbital launch mount speaking of booster 4 elon confirmed on twitter this week that booster 4 and ship 20 are still slotted to fly the first orbital flight of starship he also shared a hypnotizing video of a test of booster 4's engine gimbals on the orbital pad elon shared that the new raptor 2 engine will be used on the next booster which will feature 33 of the improved engines raptor 2 is now in production and all raptor tests at spacex's mcgregor facility from now on will be of raptor 2. finally elon stated that future starships may feature six raptor vacuum engines as opposed to the three on current vehicles additionally the tanks of the vehicle would be stretched making more propellant available these two upgrades would increase starship's payload performance on the launch tower the ship quick disconnect umbilical was installed on november 23rd this connector will attach to the back side of a starship stacked on top of a booster allowing propellants to be filled and drained more gas venting has been seen from the orbital pad itself as the new plumbing on the structure is tested on november 26th mary caught the launch site pa system making an announcement just before venting [Music] it's not clear exactly what this new plumbing is for but seeing it in action is a great sign that work on the orbital launch mount is nearing completion the quick disconnect hood was installed onto the launch mount on december 7th this structure will cover and protect the booster quick disconnect which is an array of propellant and electrical lines during launch a new multi-stage pump was delivered and installed at the tank farm on december 9th multi-stage pumps are often used to push high pressure fluids longer distances so this could play a part in propellant loading at the production site stacking in the mid bay has begun for ship 22. the vehicle is about three sections tall as of recording ship 21's tank section has been moved inside the high bay the aft flaps haven't been installed yet which usually happens before the move to the high bay inside the high bay its nose cone will soon be stacked onto the tank section a new prototype nose cone was rolled out from tent number three this new design is made up of significantly fewer panels which may lead to faster and cheaper production due to fewer welds this piece of hardware is only a test article which is made clear by the rectangular cutouts at the edges of some pieces the cutouts made right on the weld lines are to inspect the interior of the welds to validate their integrity also nick spotted the common dome section for ship 24. this vehicle is expected to debut upgrades to starship but it's unclear exactly what they will be booster 5 was rolled out of the high bay on december 8th from the high bay it was moved through the propellant production site near sn15 and 16. it's not clear why this move took place however moving booster 5 onto a concrete pedestal may signify longer term storage sections of booster 6 were stacked to create what may be a test tank on december 7th the boosters forward dome and common dome section were joined just outside the mid bay it was then moved into the high bay on december 10th the purpose of this test article is currently unknown next door the wide bay began to gain wall siding as work on the first level wraps up the second level is being pre-assembled in front of the first level and will be lifted on top with the use of cranes on december 3rd the nosecone test stand was moved to the scrap yard likely for scrapping this structure lovingly nicknamed the nosecone jail was used to perform simulated aerodynamic stress testing on a starship nose cone in april and may of this year the stand was assembled around the nose cone of sn12 a starship that began assembly but was cancelled to prioritize sn15 it was moved to the launch site where the stress testing occurred before later moving back to the production site there it was stored next to sn15 and ship 16 before being moved to the scrapyard finally elon musk confirmed on twitter that work on the starship launch site at kennedy space center's launch pad 39a has resumed previously spacex started work in 2019 on a launch mount and flame diverter at the site at the same time crews were assembling a starship prototype mark ii in coco florida just a few miles away when starship mark 1 failed in boca chica all east coast work on starships stopped and hasn't resumed since however starship's heat shield tiles continued to be made at the coco site but recent satellite photos from harry stranger show that the original launch mount has been disassembled elon confirmed on twitter that the new structure would be similar to that at boca chica with some improvements by having a separate starship launch mount at 39a falcon 9 and falcon heavy will be able to launch from the site as long as needed the future plan for florida starship is not too clear it is likely that spacex will assemble starships or at least components of them at their in-progress roberts road site a recent satellite photo shows that ground is being cleared at the site indicating future expansion might begin soon and that's it for this video if you'd like to support the channel feel free to subscribe and consider becoming a channel member we have several cool perks available for our channel members including access to our discord server and preview clips of the exciting activities at bocachica thanks for watching and have a great week [Music] you

Channel: NASASpaceflight

Views: 97,565

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Id: n_DQwN_QR2s

Length: 9min 40sec (580 seconds)

Published: Mon Dec 20 2021